It's Just A Cold
by sputterfly
Summary: Hinawa nurses a sick Maki back to health from a cold. (sickfic Maki/Hinawa.) ch. 2: Maki nurses Hinawa back to health.
1. Chapter 1

"Ah-_choo_!"

Maki Oze sniffled. Her allergies had taken hold on her, and they had advanced into a cold. She had a mask on, but she felt that it was making everything worse for her. She reached over and grabbed a folder off of the stack next to her.

"Maki, why don't you take a day off?" Takehisa Hinawa suggested. He was sitting across from her at their desks and was looking at her worriedly.

"I don't need to take a day off for the cold," Maki said.

"A day of rest would probably help you feel a whole lot better," Shinra said.

Maki thought it over. She didn't feel like being at work right now; as she went to stand up, she felt herself getting dizzy. She grabbed the desk for support.

"Are you okay?" Hinawa asked.

"I'm just a little dizzy," she said.

"Let me help you."

"I got it," Maki insisted.

Hinawa raised his hands in defeat. Shinra waited until Maki had left before saying anything to the Lieutenant.

"It's so obvious," Shinra said.

"What?"

"You _like_ Maki."

"I care for her wellbeing, same as the rest of Company 8," Hinawa lied. "Speaking of, where is Arthur?"

"Probably off crafting more mini-Excaliburs," Shinra said.

Hinawa sighed as he stood up. "I'm going to check on Maki; you go find Arthur. And _don't get in a fight._"

"Yes, sir!"

As Shinra left the office, Hinawa pushed his chair back and gazed at the ceiling. _Damn, he's a perceptive brat,_ he thought.

He stood and walked into the kitchen, where he found Maki sitting on the floor. He walked over to her and squatted down.

"I thought I told you to go lie down," he told her.

"I was on my way to my room, but I got thirsty and wanted a glass of water," Maki said sheepishly. Hinawa looked down and saw an empty glass clutched in her left hand. "I guess I should have asked for some help anyways."

"Let me take your temperature," Hinawa suggested, taking the glass from her.

He reached into a cabinet and pulled out a first aid kit and began to empty its contents in search of the thermometer on the counter. As he searched, Maki started to nap on the kitchen floor. He looked over at her and sighed.

When he finally found the thermometer, he squatted down by Maki and lifted her head. She moaned softly.

"Let me take your temperature," he told her gently. "Then I'll take you to your room."

Maki opened her mouth, and Hinawa inserted the thermometer under her tongue. As he waited for the results, he filled her glass with water and got two pills from the bottle of the fever reducer he had found while searching for the thermometer.

"It's done," Maki told him.

"What does it say?"

"37.7° C," she said.

"You have a fever, as I thought. Take these, and I'll help you to your room," Hinawa said, proffering the two pills and the glass of water.

Maki made a face as she picked them up. She tossed them into her mouth and took a drink of water.

Hinawa crouched down in front of her, his back to her. "Hop on."

"I don't need help to my room," she told him.

"Those pills will make you even more tired than you already are."

Maki stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Hinawa hooked his arms under her legs and lifted her onto his back.

"Comfortable?" he asked her.

"Y-Yeah," Maki stuttered.

"Okay, let's go."

As they walked down the hall, Maki rested her head against the back of Hinawa's, who smiled inwardly. He enjoyed spending time with her, no doubt. He shook his head to clear his mind. He felt Maki slipping and hoisted her up higher onto his back.

Maki roused as she felt herself being jostled around. She hooked her arms in front of Hinawa's chest and sighed in content. She knew that Hinawa would help take care of her.

"Okay, we're here," Hinawa said, opening the door to her room.

"Thanks, Lieutenant," Maki said as she slid off of his back. She sniffled as she began to lay down in bed.

"We should have a humidifier around here somewhere," Hinawa mused.

"Don't worry about it," Maki told him. "The only reason I'm sick is because of that job the other day."

"The one in the rain?"

Maki nodded. "I should be better soon."

She rolled over, her back to Hinawa. He took that as a sign to leave, for now, so she can rest. He shut her bedroom door behind him.

A few hours later, after everyone had eaten their dinner and the dishes had been cleaned, Hinawa stayed in the kitchen and made Maki some soup. He ladled it into a bowl and placed it onto a tray for Maki.

"How is Maki doing?" Obi said, poking his head into the kitchen.

"She's resting, for now," Hinawa told him. "Her fever may have gone down some in the past few hours."

"Good. I look forward to having one of my top fire soldiers back in action soon," Obi said, and left.

Hinawa picked up the tray with Maki's soup on it and carried it to her room. He set it down on her bedside table and picked up the thermometer he had placed on the tray. He removed the cap and leaned over to put it in Maki's mouth.

"Lieutenant?" she mumbled, waking slightly.

"I was trying not to wake you up," he told her. "Can I take your temperature before you eat?"

Maki opened her mouth wide enough for him to insert the thermometer under her tongue. As they waited for the telltale beep, Hinawa busied himself with preparing her soup.

"You didn't have to do all of this, really," Maki said, holding the thermometer in place in her mouth.

"It's okay," Hinawa said. "I don't mind doing it."

When the thermometer beeped a few seconds later, Hinawa pulled it out and checked Maki's temperature. "37.2° C. It's coming down," he told her.

Maki pushed Hinawa out of her room. "I'd like to eat by myself," she told him.

"Fine."

Hinawa sat down outside her now-closed door while she ate. He rested his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. He napped there for a few hours while waiting for Maki to let him back inside her room.

"Lieutenant, why are you sleeping outside my room?"

Hinawa stood up and stretched. "I was just wanting to make sure you were feeling better before I left."

"Yeah, that soup made me feel loads better. You're such an amazing cook, Lieutenant!"

"Thank you, Maki," Hinawa said.

Maki smiled as she brought her tray out of her room. "You're welcome."

"Here, let me take that."

Hinawa carried the tray into the kitchen and began washing the dishes. Maki joined him a few minutes later, drying the dishes as he handed them to her.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Maki," he told her.

"Me too," she said. "Now, I can focus on my work."

"You should be focusing on your work anyway."

"I'm _always_ focusing on my work since you're sitting across from me."

Hinawa blushed. "Just help me finish these up so we can both go back to bed."

"And this time, you'll be sleeping in your room, right, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Maki."

Maki set her dish towel aside as Hinawa turned off the water. "Goodnight, Lieutenant."

"Goodnight."


	2. Chapter 2

"Maki, let me out of my room," Hinawa demanded.

"No, Lieutenant. You need your rest."

"I'm fine!" he demanded.

Maki opened his door a little. Hinawa tried to force his way through but found Maki had shoved herself against the door. He groaned inwardly.

Maki relaxed and slipped inside his door. "You need to get some rest. Isn't that what you told me?"

"Yes, but—"

"But what?" Maki asked, crossing her arms.

"I'm _fine_," Hinawa said, his voice a little louder than usual.

"There's no need to raise your voice," Maki said, stepping back. "I'm only doing what Captain Obi told me to do."

Hinawa sniffled. He had caught Maki's cold while taking care of her, and now she was returning the favor in taking care of him. _Ughhh_, he thought.

Maki placed her arm on his forehead. His forehead felt warm, and his skin was clammy. She sighed as she pulled her arm back down.

"You have a fever. You need to lay down," she told him.

"I'm perfectly fine," Hinawa argued.

"Stop arguing with me!" Maki said. "You need to lie down and get some rest, okay?"

Hinawa sighed. He was beginning to feel a bit light-headed, so he sat down on the side of his bed as Maki turned to leave.

"I'll be back in a bit," she told him. "I'm just going to get a bowl of water and a cloth."

"Okay."

Maki let the door shut gently behind her as she headed to the bathroom for a washcloth. She ran it under lukewarm water and watched as it slowly became soaked with water.

_He took care of me, time to return the favor and take care of him,_ Maki thought. She placed the washcloth in a bowl and filled it with cold water. She dragged the washcloth through the water as it covered her fingers. _That should be good._

She carried the bowl back to his room, setting it down on his bedside table. He had laid back in bed, and he felt _miserable_. She felt of his forehead again and reached for the cold washcloth.

"Is that cold water?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Just checking."

"I'm not dumb!" she told him. "Is there any medicine I can give you?"

"Should be some ibuprofen in the first aid kit," he told her.

"I'll get it and the thermometer," she said, standing to leave. Hinawa wanted to tell her something else, but couldn't think; his mind was so hazy from his fever he could barely remember who he was. He was thirsty and hungry, but he also knew anything he'd eat would be puked back up.

Maki walked into the kitchen, where she knew a first aid kit was kept and pulled it down from the shelves. Inside was the bottle of ibuprofen and a thermometer.

She turned around and poured the lieutenant a glass of water, which he'd need if he wanted to swallow the pills successfully. She grabbed the first aid kit and walked back down the hall to Hinawa's room. When she passed Obi's office, he called out to her.

"So how is Lieutenant Hinawa doing?"

"He's got a pretty bad fever," Maki told him. "I got some medication to bring it down, hopefully."

"Hmm…" Obi grumbled. "Keep an eye on him, and if it gets worse, we may have to take him to the doctor."

Maki nodded. "Okay."

_If we have to take him anywhere, then I failed as the person taking care of him_, Maki thought. She turned into his room a little too sharply and bumped her nose on his doorframe, causing it to bleed.

"Ow!" she yelped.

She looked over at Hinawa, who had, in her absence, stripped down to his underwear in an attempt to cool off. Maki blushed furiously.

"Just get some of the gauze out of the first aid kit and use it to stop the bleeding, Maki," Hinawa told her.

_Duh, Maki._ She opened the kit and grabbed a small patch of gauze, and pushed it into her nose. She then grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen and the thermometer and went over to Hinawa. He opened his mouth for the thermometer, and Maki stuck it in quickly.

"If it's over 39C, I'm taking you to the doctor," Maki told him.

Hinawa looked at her pleadingly. She hated seeing him suffer like this, but he had deteriorated so fast.

When the thermometer beeped, he was the first one to look at it. "38C," he told Maki.

"Just take the ibuprofen," she told him, tears of frustration running down her face.

Hinawa poured out four of the tiny white pills and set the bottle aside. He tossed them into his mouth and drained the glass of water she had brought him.

"I wouldn't mind having more water," he told her.

Maki nodded her head and sniffled. She took the glass to the kitchen and refilled it; her mind raced with ways to get the stubborn lieutenant to go to a doctor.

"If he won't go, he won't go," Maki said to herself.

She took the glass of water back to his room and was surprised to see the lieutenant asleep. She pulled a chair up beside him and sat next to him for a few hours. She was shocked to feel someone stroking her hair when she woke up.

"Don't move too soon," he told her quietly. "You'll ruin it."

"How's your temperature?" she asked him.

"Nice and normal."

Maki felt his forehead; sure enough, his scorching fever had dissipated overnight after he took the ibuprofen. He had covered up with his blankets as his fever broke to keep warm.

Maki took the washcloth from his forehead and put it back into the water. He tugged at her arm, and she sat down beside him, her face next to his.

"I got to say, you did a good job," Hinawa told her.

"Not as good as you did," she replied.

"You threatened me with the doctor. I'm very impressed. If I get sick again, I'd want you as my nurse."

Maki blushed. She knew what he meant.

"I have to put clothes on. I'm embarrassing the hell out of you," Hinawa said. "But before I do…"

He leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss. Maki melted into the floor. There was no pressure to continue it, but in a way, she wanted it to last longer.

"I-I gotta go," she panted. Her hands left Hinawa's bare chest, and she ran out the door.

Hinawa chuckled as he stood up from the bed. "Guess I'll have to be more careful from now on when I do that."

* * *

**a/n: the irony that I'm sick with a cold as I'm posting this.**

**I promised a ch. 2 tho.**


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